A Dierks Bentley concert is decidedly different from concerts by other country music artists. Like most touring musicians, Bentley’s concerts lean heavily on past hits and anecdotal stories, intertwined with a few songs from the most recent album. His Broken Branches Tour came to Madison Square Garden and lit stage with a colorful visual production that avoided many of the current conventions of concert staging. Bentley’s show featured no B-stages in the audience, no pillars of fire and smoke rising from the stage, no fireworks and no confetti cannons. Not that these extras are bad, he just did not need them, thanks to a lively and human-oriented presentation.
As a matured showman, Bentley chose not to rely on outside effects to achieve his goal of entertaining his fans. His concert was unique in that, in addition to the mighty musical arrangements, Bentley, his musicians, and his crew intermittently engaged in comic frivolity to lighten the atmosphere and give the audience a few giggles. Whether it was the way he introduced his talented musicians, or even the way the musicians jostled and cavorted with each other mid-song while playing their instruments, the fun on stage was genuine enough to become infectious among the fans scattered across the large arena.
Not that the program slacked in the music department. Bentley’s Broken Branches Tour is a traveling good-time high-energy party. The Band Loula, led by Malachi Mills and Logan Simmons, two lifelong friends from a small town in northern Georgia, performed a fast-paced half hour of earthy, soulful country music that even saw them countrify a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” From Sunnyside, Washington, Zach Top, whom Bentley later praised as the future of country music, performed a more traditional-sounding set of hook-lined, bluegrass-influenced originals. Both of the support acts received strong approval from the New York City audience. After intermission, Bentley and his band members opened their set with an energetic opening medley of “Well Well Whiskey” and “Up on the Ridge.” Yes, this was party time yet again.
Now 49 years old, the Arizona-born and Tennessee-based Bentley has spent half his life as a professional musician, releasing his debut album in 2001. Scoring number one country songs even with his first album, Bentley had a deep well from which to draw songs at Madison Square Garden, substantially more than the first time he headlined the arena in 2018. This time, he and his band revisited several of his bigger hits, including “What Was I Thinkin’”, “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)”, “Am I the Only One”, “5-1-5-0”, “I Hold On”, “Drunk on a Plane”, “Say You Do”, “Somewhere on a Beach,” and “Living.” The set also included two songs, “She Hates Me” and “Standing in the Sun,” from Bentley’s 12th and most recent album, Broken Branches, which he released this past June 13.
Confident in the ability of his seasoned musicians, Bentley frequently highlighted their contributions by fading backwards and giving them the spotlight. They performed instrumental solos and even sang covers of vintage country songs. Bentley also invited The Band Loula to join him on stage to harmonize with him on a memorable cover of a Del McCoury Band country gospel song, “Get Down on Your Knees and Pray.”
The main set ended with one of Bentley’s best-known singalong songs, “Drunk on a Plane.” As the song began, he donned a pilot’s jacket and cap. (Bentley holds a private pilot license, owns a Cirrus SR22T and flies a Cessna Citation CJ4.) At the song’s conclusion, as the audience cheered for an encore, he and his musicians secretly went backstage to change outfits.
The encore began with a video parody of television’s The A Team. The musicians reappeared on stage as Hot Country Knights, Bentley’s ‘90s country parody band. With the musicians wearing wigs and vintage wardrobe, the show reached its highest level of hilarity with an animated medley of country covers. The audience sang, laughed and cheered as the encore concluded Bentley’s concert with a ridiculous full-tilt honky-tonk dance party.
The Broken Branches Tour is more than a music concert. It is a fun-filled night of entertainment. Nobody in country music does it as well as Dierks Bentley.
Setlist
Well Well Whiskey / Up on the Ridge
Burning Man (with TJ Osborne)
She Hates Me
Somewhere on a Beach
Gone
Living (Dedicated to ‘Superfan’ Matt Durham)
I Hold On
Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go) / Mountain Music (Alabama cover)
5-1-5-0
Standing in the Sun (Dedicated to his wife (in attendance))
Say You Do
Get Down on Your Knees and Pray (The Del McCoury Band cover, with The Band Loula)
Am I the Only One
Callin’ Baton Rouge (The Oak Ridge Boys cover, with Charlie Worsham on lead vocals)
Freeborn Man (Keith Allison cover)
What Was I Thinkin’
Drunk on a Plane
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